Shannen Doherty on Charmed reboot's 'terrible, offensive' description

Shannen Doherty is weighing in on The CW’s reboot of her fan favorite hit series Charmed.

The actress had a flurry of thoughts on the topic over the weekend while chatting with fans on Twitter. Doherty’s opinion is nuanced and complex; she isn’t simply pro- or anti-reboot. Based on her tweets, she’s intrigued and curious about the new project, and doesn’t want to be negative about it — she even defends the idea of a reboot in general — yet strongly agrees with some fans who object to the network’s description of the project as “feminist reboot” of the original series (when the 1998-2006 series was considered feminist too).

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First, on the very idea of a reboot:

Im intrigued by the idea that a new generation might be comforted, inspired like all you were. Charmed helped us all in some way

Likewise, while some have slammed the idea of bringing back Charmed as unoriginal, The WB series actually followed 1996’s similarly premised film The Craft and the 1995 book Practical Magic (which released a film version the same year Charmed hit the air). So at one point, the original Charmed was likewise considered by some to be a knock-off…

I get that but I can tell you that we were inspired by practical magic. So again, they should perhaps simply do a show inspired by Charmed

BUT … that official description though … (which described the new series this way: “This fierce, funny, feminist reboot of the original series centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches. Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy, and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done”).

Yep. You nailed it. Their wording is terrible and a bit offensive. But, everyone makes mistakes. Perhaps with the backlash they will be more thoughtful in future.